


Reassurance of Domesticity

by thirdchildfromthesun



Category: DRAMAtical Murder (Visual Novel), DRAMAtical Murder - All Media Types
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-07
Updated: 2015-07-07
Packaged: 2018-04-08 03:10:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,357
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4288488
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thirdchildfromthesun/pseuds/thirdchildfromthesun
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The power is out, there is a bad storm ripping its way through the region and Aoba is home alone with Ren. Trying to keep his mind occupied as he worries about Mink's safety, Aoba stumbles across a mysterious box in Mink's bedroom. Curiosity drives him to open it and inside he finds a pleasant surprise.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Reassurance of Domesticity

There was really no reason to tidy the house as they always kept it meticulously clean but on the days that he didn’t go to his job at the bakery in town, Aoba busied himself with doing whatever chores could be done around the already spotless abode. 

There was dusting and wiping down any place that showed even the slightest indication of being grimy, doing whatever laundry had managed to accumulate since the previous washing (which was usually only two or three days ago), straightening and re-straightening anything that looked out of place and just generally tidying up the already tidy.

If he was lucky, there was enough to be done that keep him occupied for an hour. If not, he was finished in ten minutes and left standing in the kitchen, debating whether he should cook and add to the already large amount of baked goods that were patiently waiting to be eaten (or given away to some of their friends in town) or go for a walk, collect some pretty rocks that Mink might be able to use in his adornments and then be back in time to fix something for his and Mink’s dinner. 

At the moment, however, he was very unlucky. There was currently a very bad storm passing through and both Ren and the warnings on the radio had warned him against going outside. And looking out the kitchen window, Aoba could easily understand why. There was a torrent of rainfall flooding down from the dark sky, the wind was howling and blowing so fierce he was afraid that the roof would be blown straight off the house and every other moment, there was a bright streak of lightning which was almost always immediately followed by explosions of thunder that nearly made his ears ring. 

That was not why he was unlucky, though. He was used to these kinds of storms – they were inevitable and happened at least five or six times every summer. No, he was unlucky because the power had gone out shortly after the first thunder boomed. And, of course, no power meant no cooking which meant he was left with little to nothing to do. His coil, unfortunately, was dead at the moment which meant no games. There were enough books in the house to keep him occupied for a week but reading in such dim light would surely give him a headache. Ren made the suggestion that they simply rest until Mink returned but Aoba was restless and anxious.

Standing in front of the kitchen sink with his hands pressed up against the rim, Aoba leaned over the edge and watched the fury of the storm outside. The world outside was a blur of grey and green, sometimes briefly illuminated as lightning flashed across the threatening sky. He could hardly even see the forest beyond the yard – the rain was so thick and heavy, it made it hard to see anything. 

Sighing, he turned away from the window and rested the small of his back against the edge of the sink. He knew he shouldn’t be worried about Mink. After all, Mink reassured him each and every time a bad storm passed through that there was more than adequate shelter for him to take refuge in if things started to turn sour. He always made certain to make it crystal clear to him that he would be safe but still, he couldn’t help but worry. He didn’t like to be separated when the world outside was so violent and loud. Mink told him that there was nothing to worry about but still….

“AH!” Aoba proclaimed loudly to the dark house, “I’ve got to stop this! Mink would be upset if he knew I was worrying over him like this!” 

He gave his head a furious shake and slapped his cheeks heartily. All he needed to do was busy himself with something, anything! True, he had already cleaned the house from top to bottom, and there was still a considerable amount of time before Mink came home (if he was going to be able to get home on time, that is) but there had to be something he could do. And he certainly wasn’t going to find that something by lollygagging around in the kitchen. 

Aoba wandered aimlessly around the cabin for a while with Ren held tightly in his arms, pausing every now and then to listen to the storm and try to judge whether it sounded like it was getting worse or better. By the time he ended up in Mink’s bedroom, sprawled out on his stomach across the wide bed with Ren pressed firmly against his side, the storm still did not sound like it had lessened at all. 

Aoba moaned softly, burying his face into the soft blanket and squirmed uncomfortably. He wanted to see Mink. He wanted to hear Mink’s voice, to hear him assure him that he was alright, to hear him say his name. It was so selfish of him but he wanted Mink to be here. 

An extraordinarily loud boom of thunder shocked him out of his melancholy and Aoba nearly fell off of Mink’s bed in his surprise. While he didn't go flying off, his right leg did slam against the bedside table and knocked quite a bit of things into disarray, and near about caused the lamp to go tumbling to the ground.

“Aoba, are you alright?” Ren asked after Aoba had steadied himself.

“Yes, yes.” Aoba responded, smiling a bit shakily at Ren, “Just startled is all.” 

Sighing and feeling slightly ashamed of himself for getting into such a state, Aoba slid of the bed and knelt down on the floor. He righted the lamp first then busied himself with picking up the various objects that had fallen off or been knocked out of place. It wasn’t much – a few books, some little knickknacks and a handful of colorful stones. After rearranging everything back as best as he could in the dim light, Aoba sat down, leaned his back against the bed and sighed once again. 

He wished he was working today. The bakery was only a couple of doors down from where Mink worked and it would have been so easy for him to just slip down there for a short while to make sure Mink was okay and get a quick kiss. They would have been able to go home together or wait together as the storm angrily passed by. Aoba sighed again before reaching up to pick up Ren and place him in his lap. He began to idly stroke Ren's head as he listened to pounding rain smashing against the roof the house. It didn’t seem to matter how much time he spent here, he always ended up turning into a huge baby whenever Mink wasn’t around when one of these bad storms passed through. 

Moaning sadly, he rolled over onto his side where he laid in misery for around five seconds before his eyes alighted on a medium size box lying on the floor behind the bedside table. It must have fallen off and he had just overlooked it. Setting Ren back on the bed, he pushed himself off the ground, reached around the table and picked the box up. It wasn’t something he recognized; in fact, he was fairly certain he had never seen it before. It had little weight and was simple in design. Just by looking at it, he could tell that Mink hadn’t made it. Even though Mink tended to stick towards simple and clean-cut designs, this was a little too manufactured to be one of his. As he looked it over, his curiosity grew and grew. He couldn’t discern what was inside just by looking it at nor did lightly shaking it give any clue either. It couldn’t hold any of the various creams that Mink kept by his bed for their more intimate moments – it was far too large for that. And Mink kept his various adornments in a hand-made jewelry box that was kept on the mantle in the living room. 

Furrowing his brow, he held the box at eye level in front of him and pondered for several moments whether it would be alright if he opened it. 

It wasn’t as though the box had been hidden nor did it seem that Mink had been making any conscious effort to keep him from seeing it. Though, he didn’t often go into Mink’s room and when he did, his focus usually was on Mink, not anything else so perhaps he didn’t think he had to hide it? Or perhaps the box’s place was somewhere else and it was in his bedroom because he had forgotten to put it back? 

Just what was in it? Had Mink been trying to hide it or had he just not noticed it before? Curiosity won over in a moment of lost focus and Aoba snapped open the clutch, pushed the lid up and peered inside. He wasn’t exactly sure what he had been expecting but it certainly wasn’t what he saw. 

Inside of the box were dozens upon dozens of small scraps of paper of varying colors. Pushing the lid open further, Aoba’s eyes widened in surprise as he recognized the handwriting scribbled across the various sheets as his own. Settling the box on the floor in-between his feet, Aoba carefully picked up one of the scraps on top of the pile and read the short note,

“Mink, I’m going to go for a walk. Don’t worry, I won’t go far. I will look for some small, white stones like you asked. I will be back before the sun goes down so don’t worry! Love, Aoba.” 

This was the note he had left for Mink a few days ago. Aoba picked up another scrap and read another similar message that he remembered leaving for Mink sometime last week. And the next one was a remainder to Mink to take his glasses with him when he went to town. The next was a short grocery list, the next another remainder to take his glasses, the next three were notes left to tell Mink he had gone on a walk and the next just a simple little letter of love that Aoba could vividly remember bashfully putting in Mink’s coat before he had gone to work. 

All of them – they were all notes, remainders, letters that he had left for Mink. And they went back further than Aoba could remember writing them – some of them had to be from when he had first started living with Mink. The ones where he didn’t sign it off with ‘Love, Aoba’ definitely had to be from that time – there was also a more subdued tone in those notes that wasn’t present in the more recent ones. Not frightened or bashful but more of a awareness of the newness of their relationship. 

Pleasant warmth had begun to grow in Aoba’s chest as he read all the notes. He didn’t entirely understand why Mink had kept all of these – it didn't seem like something he would do but still, it made him happy to know that Mink had deemed them to be worthy enough of keeping and perhaps even cherishing. After all, they were all safely stored away and it might even be possible that Mink read them again every so often. Perhaps that was stretching it a little but still! It made him happy to know that Mink had held onto them. Not that it would have made him sad if Mink had just thrown them away but there was something pleasant in the idea of something this small being treasured almost. 

Smiling happily, he carefully placed all of the notes back inside the box and was just about to hide it away when the door to the bedroom opened and a somewhat wet Mink stepped in. 

“What are you doing?” he asked, tilting his head slightly as he looked down at him. 

“Mink, you’re home early!” Aoba set the box down and pulled himself up. He picked Ren up, walked over to Mink and looked curiously up at him, “Did they let you leave early because of the storm?”

“No, I came home because I didn’t want you to be here alone.” 

He knew he had to be blushing at that simple, honest statement and even felt a little bit happy but at the same time, he was a bit angry. Mink had gone out in that bad storm just because of that? He frowned up at Mink, “You should have stayed where it was safe! What if a tree had fallen on you or if you got struck by lightning?”

A small smile tugged at Mink’s mouth but instead of responding, he simply leaned down and pecked a soft kiss against Aoba’s lips before moving away towards the dresser. 

Still frowning, Aoba walked back over to the bed and flopped down onto it. Crossing his legs in front of him, he placed Ren in the gap before leaning forward and placing his elbows on his knees. Quietly, he watched Mink dry himself off and change out of his wet clothes. Meanwhile, he debated whether or not he should mention the box. Now that his curiosity was satisfied, he was feeling a bit guilty. After all, it was Mink’s and he had looked without permission. He was certain Mink wouldn’t mind as those kinds of things never really bothered him but still, Aoba should have at least waited until Mink got home and asked about it. But…he was also just so curious as to why Mink had kept all the notes. The little love letters he could understand but why the grocery lists? Why the remainders and the notes telling him where he was? There was nothing that significant about them so why keep them? 

“Mink…” He spoke up softly, still debating if it was a good idea to bring this to Mink's attention. 

Mink, who had finished drying off and was pulling a clean, dry tee-shirt out of the dresser, turned to look at him, “What?”

“That box…”. 

Mink just raised an eyebrow, obviously waiting for Aoba to continue. He didn’t look even remotely upset about Aoba asking so, with a little bit more confidence, Aoba continued, “It has all the notes I’ve ever written to you in it.”

Mink pulled the tee-shirt on, brushed his hair out of his face and fixed a calm, easy gaze on Aoba, “Yes, it does.”

Surprised at such a nonchalant answer, Aoba raised his eyebrows in confusion and asked, “Why?”

“Why what?” Mink walked over to the bed, sat down and begin to pull his shoes and socks off.

“Why did you keep them?” He scooted a bit closer to Mink, making sure he didn’t jostle Ren too much as he moved, “I mean, for some of them, I can understand but why keep all of them? A lot of them are pretty insignificant. And I mean, it does kind of make me happy to know that you did keep them but I don’t really understand why…?” He trailed off, not exactly sure how to format what he was asking. 

“None of them are insignificant.” Mink responded firmly after a moment of silence, turning to settle his calm gaze on Aoba. 

“Eh?” 

Mink sighed softly before gesturing towards the box and repeating, “None of them are insignificant. All of them – regardless of purpose or content – were written by you, and that means they could never be insignificant.”

“….I don’t understand.” Though, he somewhat did but they weren’t insignificant because they had been written by him? Were he and Mink on the same page or was he ten pages back?

Mink sighed again, this time with what sounded a little bit like frustration, “They are a constant reassurance of this domesticity – a reassurance that I’ve achieved……no, that I’ve, for whatever reason, been rewarded, been selflessly given this peace, this contentment, this happiness..." He paused for a moment before reaching up to gently stroke Aoba's cheek with the backs of his fingers, "this love to give and be given. A reassurance of this chance to be with you, to make you happy, to give you peace. They are a reassurance of you – of everything that you have been, that you are. Regardless of what they say, they are all said by you. In that, to me, none of them are insignificant. They never could be.”

There was a long pause of silence between them as Aoba struggled to find something to say. He could feel the heat his face was radiating and knew that his cheeks had to be as red as a boiled octopus. 

That was…that was Mink’s reason? Aoba had an inkling that it might have been something along those lines but he hadn’t actually thought that was Mink’s intention behind keeping all the notes. And now that he knew, he was so happy; he thought his chest might burst. 

“Does that bother you?” Mink finally broke the silence and leaned toward Aoba slightly.

Aoba shook his head and gave Mink a large smile, “No, it doesn’t. It makes me incredibly happy that they’re that important to you!” 

Mink gave a small smile in return, “Is that so?”

“Mhm!” Aoba nodded happily, feeling a bit foolish at just how happy he was.

“Well, that’s good.” Mink reached up and placed a hand on the back of Aoba’s head. Pulling him forward slightly, he pressed a warm, gentle kiss against his lips. Aoba reached up to cup Mink’s face in his hands, loving the feeling of Mink’s soft hair and smooth skin against his palms. The kiss didn’t last long but was followed by several soft pecks lovingly placed against Aoba’s eyelids, the tip of his nose, his forehead, cheeks, chin – anywhere that Mink could reach. Aoba turned and moved to give Mink access to every inch of him as he was adorned with kisses. He giggled slightly as Mink’s lip brushed against the ticklish patch underneath his ear and very gently swatted Mink away. Smiling a bit more now, Mink leaned back just far enough so they could look each other in the eyes. They spent a moment or two just smiling at each other before Aoba took Mink’s large hand in his own and said, “You still should have waited until the storm was over before coming home.”

Mink snorted softly, “Are you saying that you didn’t want me to come home?”

He looked up and glared at Mink with insincere and slightly playful anger, “That isn’t what I meant, and you know it! You should have stayed where it was safe until the storm blew over. I would have been fine until then. This house is sturdy, after all.”

“Is that so?” Mink replied, his eyes and face gentle and amused. 

“Yup, so next time,” Aoba pointed a finger at Mink and leveled a serious gaze on him, “you had better stay put until it’s safe to go out!”

Mink chuckled, “If that’s what you want, then I will.”

Satisfied with that answer, Aoba nodded solemnly before smiling once again, “We should probably go check on the roof, and I need to see how bad the damage to the garden is.”

Mink nodded before standing up and moving to leave the bedroom. As he was leaving, Ren informed him that all the warnings that had been issued were now expired and no new warnings had been given. Grateful that the storm was finally over, Aoba slid off the bed, placed Ren on the floor and moved to follow after Mink. Before he left the bedroom, he looked back at the box resting peacefully on the bedside table and smiled as a bit of heat rushed to his cheeks. He knew he shouldn’t change how he wrote the notes or the frequency at which he left them for Mink but maybe, he would accidentally add in a little more reassurance how just how happy, how content and how in love he was.


End file.
